Cookies
by Alienfromx
Summary: Weiss is too stubborn for her own good.
1. Chapter 1

It was a pretty quiet and unassuming morning. I was up early as usual and ready to eat. This morning, however, was quite different from others. What made this morning special was the fact that it was our first time at the new townhouse. Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I recently pitched all our money together and rented a townhouse. You'd be surprised by how much money huntresses can make over time. Weiss helped a little as well, but don't remind her. She already hangs it over our heads all the time.

Anyway, I was awake during my first morning at the townhouse after moving in and went right for breakfast. What's my average breakfast, you ask? Cookies and pancakes with extra syrup. You can never go wrong with a little boost of energy in the morning. I was happily preparing the ingredients needed for the cookies when someone unexpected and unwelcome walked in.

"Excuse me?" said Weiss. She still had her nightgown on and looked at me through bloodshot eyes. Her hair was a mess as well. It was all over the place and looked like it'd been through a thorn bush.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Could you _please_ not make so much noise in the morning?"

I raised my eyebrows at Weiss. She slept in the lower half of the townhouse with Blake. They always slept with the door closed and I assumed that they couldn't hear me based on that.

"Was I being noisy?" I asked.

"YES," Weiss said sternly. She looked at my baking ingredients all over the counter and made a squeamish face. "You aren't really going to begin your day with…cookies…are you?"

"Why not?" I asked. "They're a great way to give me energy."

Weiss scoffed at what I said while rubbing her forehead slowly. "You really are a child," she said condescendingly. "Tell me. Have you ever heard of a thing called nutrition?"

I nodded.

"Wellllll," Weiss said with extra condescension, "What you're eating right now is a very good example of bad nutrition. That much sugar isn't good for your body."

I took great offense to what Weiss said. Sweets were a big part of my diet and having someone try to persuade me away from them was like threatening my family.

"Oh yeah?" I asked accusingly. "And what do you have in the morning?"

Weiss smiled, as if she'd been expecting me to ask that. "Let me show you," she said with a smirk. Weiss went over to the pantry and took out a container that contained coffee mix. She daintily opened the lid and began to put it into the coffee mixer she'd brought with us.

"Uncle Qrow said that coffee has a lot caffeine in it," I said. "Isn't that just as bad as sugar?"

"Uncoo Qwow said dat coffee has a wot of caffeine," Weiss said mockingly. "Your Uncle Qrow is also one drink away from needing a liver transplant, so I wouldn't exactly take his advice on health seriously."

My words apparently got Weiss so upset that her face had started to burn red.

"Don't have to get angry," I said quietly. "I was just wondering how that was any better than my cookies."

"It's better because I know how to moderate," Weiss said, her eyes boring deep into mine. "Now excuse me while I continue on with my morning."

"Fine," I said with slight irritation. I had just started mixing the ingredients together when Weiss made yet another comment.

"Where did you learn to bake anyway?" she asked curiously, eyeing the large bowl I was using.

"I taught myself," I said proudly. "I wanted cookies and nobody would buy them, so I learned how to make them myself."

Weiss nodded slowly. "Interesting," she said absentmindedly. "It must be convenient to bake when you're hungry."

"Yup," I said cheerfully. "Do you want me to teach you?"

Weiss looked at me as if she'd been slapped. "What?" she asked.

"Uhh…I asked if you wanted me to—"

"I know what you said!" Weiss snapped. "I'm just appalled that you thought I would want to bake those artery stuffers."

Once again, Weiss's face had turned red. She did that when she got really worked up, and it was often over the smallest things. Still, I couldn't help but chuckle. It clearly annoyed her too.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

"It…it's nothing," I said, trying to calm myself down.

"Tell me now," said Weiss. "Or I'll dump my coffee in your recipe."

"Fine," I said. I took a deep breath and then continued. "I think you really do want to learn but are embarrassed because you can't bake."

Weiss's face turned a brighter shade of red. "W-W-What?" Weiss asked me, her lips tight. "That's preposterous. I can too cook…I just haven't had to do it in a while."

"Oh yeah?" I asked with an eyebrow arched. "Prove it."

"No."

"Why not?"

Weiss looked nervously at her coffee and then back at me. "I just don't see the need to prove anything when I already know what I'm capable of."

"Fine," I said casually. "I'll just assume that you really don't know."

That must have been the line that pushed Weiss over the edge. Her lips became even tighter as her face reached yet another shade of red.

"Then allow me to prove your childish self wrong," Weiss said with forced calmness. She walked over to where the bowl was and proceeded to continue where I'd left off. I watched her carefully. Weiss looked into the bowl and stared, her eyes shifting between the ingredients and the empty space next to the bowl. I slowly leaned towards her, waiting for her to do something.

"Could you stop doing that?" Weiss asked, jerking her face in my direction. "It's hard to bake with someone creepily watching you."

I smiled childishly and leaned back.

Weiss cleared her throat and eyed me one last time. She then took my spatula and began to mix the ingredients.

"Would you kindly bring me some flour?" Weiss asked smugly.

"Sure," I said, more curious to see how her cookies would turn out.

Weiss grabbed the flour from me with more force than necessary and poured in more than twice the recommended amount. I bit my lip to avoid laughing. She clearly had no idea what she was doing. Strangely enough, Weiss managed to get the correct amount of salt in. Unfortunately, she completely forgot about the baking soda. I said nothing as she continued mixing away with a proud smirk on her face. She wouldn't be keeping that expression for long.

One thing I will give Weiss credit for is how well she managed to get the dough onto the cookie sheet. She even knew to grease the cookie sheet, which I expected her to mess up.

Next came the final part. Weiss put the cookie dough into the oven and turned her head halfway in my direction for a second. She opened her mouth, paused, and then went back to what she was doing. I had a feeling she had a question but avoided asking me so she'd seem more competent. Quickly, Weiss entered the temperature and began baking. I noticed that she'd set the temperature too high. This was going to be interesting.

"See?" Weiss said conceitedly, crossing her arms while grinning. "I told you I was plenty capable."

"You sure showed me," I said, trying very hard to hide my smile.

"Let me know when they're finished," Weiss, said, walking over to her finished coffee. "Your taste buds will be overcome with the otherworldly flavor that I've concocted."

They'd be otherworldly all right.

Time passed and the cookies finished baking. I looked into the oven and could already see Weiss's mistake. The cookies were very round and jagged in some parts. They were also very dark, most likely burnt. I really didn't look forward to giving these a test bite.

"They're finished," I said, pulling out the cookies from the oven.

Weiss's head perked up. She'd been sitting in the armchair nearby with a book on her lap. "About time," she said.

I looked down at the burnt cookies and could already tell that they weren't going to taste good. Weiss walked within eyesight of the cookies and gave them one glance. Almost immediately, her confident smile disappeared and was replaced with a deep frown.

"What is _that_?" asked Weiss.

"Your cookies," I said.

"No they aren't," said Weiss. "I made them as flawlessly as one could make them. You must have clumsily done something wrong while I was reading."

I looked at Weiss with a deadpan expression.

"What?"

"You can't seriously believe that," I said.

Weiss pursed her lips and then said, "Let's try them anyway. Sometimes burnt food can still taste good. You just have to get over the heat."

She was really grasping at straws now.

As if by a stroke of luck, Blake had awakened and was exhaustingly walking towards us.

"Good morning, Blake," I said cheerfully.

Blake yawned and said, "morning."

"Want to try a cookie that Weiss made?" I asked.

Weiss gave Blake a very fierce look that said, "You _will_ eat my cookies."

Poor Blake didn't even have time to fully respond. She opened her mouth to say something and I quickly used that opportunity to cram a cookie into her mouth.

"Wow. Thanks for volunteering. You're such a good friend," I said speedily, watching as Blake bit into the cookie.

Weiss and I watched with growing anxiety as Blake took a couple bites of the cookie. Her expression was flat as usual, but that changed as she continued chomping on the cookie. First her face tightened as her lips pinched at the flavor. Next, Blake's chewing slowed down as her eyes looked like they were about to stream tears. Finally, Blake ran over to the sink and spit out the cookie. Weiss looked as if she'd been betrayed. I almost felt bad for her.

"Looks like you really didn't know how to bake," I said with a grin.

"Shut up," said Weiss, her face pouting. "I just forgot the recipe because it'd been so long. That's all." And with that, Weiss stormed back downstairs while grumbling to herself.

Feeling bad, I approached Blake and apologized. She was gurgling water to get the taste out of her mouth.

"Were you trying to kill me?" she asked.

"No," I said. "I just really didn't want to taste those things."

"I can understand that," said Blake. She gurgled one last time and then spit into the sink. "Just promise me you don't ever do that again. And I mean it."

"Got it," I said cheerfully.

Suddenly, something struck me. I didn't have a breakfast anymore. Weiss had ruined the cookies and pancakes weren't good without cookies to accompany them. I sadly lowered my head as this thought came to me.

"Have you eaten yet?" asked Blake, "or was that poison I ate supposed to be your breakfast?"

"No," I said sadly. "Like you said, Weiss ruined my breakfast."

"Oh," said Blake flatly. "That's too bad."

"What are you having?"

Blake pulled out a raw fish from the fridge. I didn't even know how that got in there, but it smelled bad.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, pinching my nose.

"I caught it the other day while you three went out," said Blake. She looked at me curiously with the fish still in her hand. "Are you going to eat something at all?"

"Probably just the pancakes without cookies," I sighed.

Blake cocked her head. "That sounds like food to me."

"You don't understand," I said. "Cookies and pancakes must accompany each other. It doesn't taste the same without the two together.

"But…isn't that much sugar bad for you?"

I opened my mouth, made a noise, and then closed it. This situation was not going to repeat itself again. I ended up taking some of Yang's cereal and eating it. I made sure to remind myself that next time I'd buy the cookies instead of making them.


	2. Chapter 2

**I wasn't actually planning on adding anything to this, so this will probably be where all the miscellaneous and random stories go. They'll all have that slice of life feel to them if you're into that sort of thing.**

Mess

Sometimes you can already tell how a day is going to go based on what happens during the first couple of hours. In my case, it was the first five seconds. My eyes opened as I heard someone shrieking from outside. I immediately grabbed Crescent Rose from under the bed and leapt out the window, ignoring the shards of glass that stuck on my body. The aura would cover that anyway.

I landed on our driveway, only to find Weiss on her knees looking miserable. In front of her was a giant dent on the road. Inside of that dent was a box and several parts that I couldn't really identify. Disappointment instantly killed any excitement I had.

"Weiss…" I said with barely concealed disappointment, "What's wrong?"

Weiss lifted her face up and glared at me. "Oh, Ruby," she said angrily. "Miss silver eyes herself. I'll tell you what's wrong." She pointed at the box inside of the dent. "All my expensive accessories just got smashed to pieces by a big ugly grimm."

I looked back at the smashed box with no enthusiasm at all. How was I supposed to feel excited about Weiss's overpriced toys getting ruined.

Weakly, I asked, "did you see the Grimm that did this?"

Weiss rolled her eyes at me. "Oh, gods," she muttered, "I just found the box like this!"

"Weiss," I said, trying to calm her down.

"I just walked out of here for a nice little stroll when—"

"Weiss!" I shouted, doing my best to keep a smile. "It's okay. We're huntresses, remember? We can go find the grimm that did this and stop it." I squeezed Crescent Rose. Just the thought of going out there and fighting grimm made me excited. It certainly beat having to listen to Weiss complain more.

"Uhh…did something happen?" a familiar voice asked.

I turned around and saw Blake stepping outside. She looked like she'd been awake for a while, wearing her casual clothes and everything.

"Just take a look," said Weiss, pointing at the smashed box.

"Blake," I said happily. "What are you doing?"

Blake blinked once at me. "…I live here?"

"I meant to say where have you been," I said. "I didn't see you at all this morning."

As usual, Blake gave an excellent display of social skills and ignored me entirely. "Wow," she said, peering over Weiss's shoulder to see the wreckage. "Looks like your stuff got ruined pretty badly. What sorts of things were inside of it?"

"Well, for starters…" Weiss went on her usual list of things that she owned.

"Blake!" I said, loudly speaking over Weiss as she went on with her list, "let's track down the grimm that did this, defeat it, and avenge Weiss's accessories."

"I'm okay with that," said Blake. She stroked her cheek thoughtfully for a moment and said, "but where do we start?"

"I've got it," I said, pointing a finger up. "We'll brainstorm in the pool."

We had an elevated pool that Weiss had installed in the back. She was strangely possessive of it and always demanded that we ask her to use it. None of us ever did.

"Hey," said Weiss. "You can't use _my_ pool without _my_ permission."

We ignored her of course and went in it anyway.

The pool itself was very nice and especially warm that day because of the sunlight. Blake sat on the edge with her feet touching the water while I played with the inflatable walrus we had.

"This is…relaxing," said Blake. She sighed contently as she moved her feet around in the water.

"It really is," I said. "I could do this all day."

"But shouldn't we be figuring out where the grimm is?" Blake asked.

"We are," I said. "It takes a fresh mind to think of complicated situations."

"I guess."

"We can always get Yang to help us."

Yang had a habit of sleeping later than any of us for whatever reason. She could either be found in the room she shared with me or outside somewhere. I was planning on asking her to help us out anyway, and that was mostly because it was hard to hang out with Blake when she only said one sentence at the most.

Llike most mornings, Yang was sleeping away in our room.

"YANG!" I shouted, pounding at our door to wake her up.

"Do you have to knock so loud?" asked Blake, wincing with every slam my fists made.

"Yes," I said. I continued to pound away until I heard Yang groan and pull open the door.

"What is it?" she asked crossly. I could tell by the droopiness of her eyes that I'd interrupted a deep sleep.

"We're here to fight Grimm," I said. "Weiss's accessories were destroyed by one."

"Oh?" Yang had about as little interest as I did at first. "And that's a problem?"

"Yes," I said dramatically. "Because team rwby never backs down from a challenge. Be it danger or trauma; rain or snow; misery or depression; Team rwby always—"

Yang slammed the door shut on my face.

"I told you we should have been quieter," said Blake.

"This isn't going to stop me," I said. "We'll just have to do more brainstorming without Yang."

Blake and I were back in the pool once more. I felt even more relaxed than before and probably would have forgotten about the Grimm if Yang hadn't spoken.

"Hey, can I swim?" she asked cheerfully.

I saw her standing outside the pool with her bathing suit already on. She looked much happier than when we saw her earlier.

"Sure," I said. "But we're brainstorming ways to find the grimm. Right, Blake?"

"Uhh….mmm….what?" Blake now had her entire body in the pool and was cuasually resting her head along the side. She probably didn't even hear me.

"Sounds fun to me," said Yang. She jumped right in, splashing Blake and me right in the face.

"No you can't," said Weiss. She came out shortly after Yang did and had the biggest pout on her face that I'd ever seen. "This is my pool and you aren't allowed to swim in it."

"But we aren't swimming," I said. "We're just lying in the water. Swimming would involve us actually moving, right Blake?"

"What? Yeah…uh…sure."

"See?"

"But I thought you said we were brainstorming," said Yang.

"We're doing that too."

"I'd much prefer it if you got on it now!" said Weiss. "Or at least do your 'brainstorming' outside of my pool!"

"Fine," I sighed, moving my arms in the water one last time.

"Aww. I really wanted to swim too," said Yang with a frown.

Our brainstorming session went by much faster with us being forced into the main room. I proposed that Yang and Blake took the motorcycle while I got to the suspect location on my own. The suspected location was somewhere in the city. Grimm loved the city because of how miserable people there were. Every report always had the city mentioned as the main target. It just made sense.

We all went into the garage, except Weiss. She decided to stay back and mourn her loss. None of us objected.

Once we got in the garage, Yang hopped on bumblebee and smiled.

"It is time for team rwby to descend," I said intensely, pushing the garage button.

Our glorious moment had the misfortune of being undermined by technical difficulties. In other words, our garage door wasn't working.

"Why isn't it working?" I said, continuing to furiously press the button.

"Just let me take care of it," Yang shrugged. She hopped off bumblebee and broke the garage door with a couple of punches. It fell down with a loud thud that hurt my eardrums.

"Isn't it expensive to get those replaced?" asked Blake.

"Who said we were replacing it?" asked Yang. "It's nothing a little bolts and screws can't fix."

"And a miracle."

"Let's just go," said Yang impatiently. "I'm already annoyed at not being allowed to swim."

I got into a starting position as I heard Yang start the engine. Now things were finally starting to get interesting.

"Umm…." I heard Blake say.

"What is it now?" I asked. It seemed like the entire day was nothing but unnecessary interruptions.

"I have to go to the bathroom. Right now."


	3. Chapter 3

We finally left for the city after waiting a year for Blake.

"Please forgive me," she said quietly. "I couldn't hold it any longer…"

"You're excused," I said impatiently. "Now can we go?"

"Yes we can," said Yang happily.

Bumblebee roared down the street as I kept pace with my speed. It felt so good moving at such high speeds and watching as everybody else continued their usual routine. Moments like this reminded me of why I loved being a huntress. I was able to do what most people probably dreamed of in my everyday life.

The city was in its usual shape when we reached it. Security was out as usual in case of grimm attacks and not a lot of people were actually out. The city was always on high-alert for grimm attacks because you could never really know when one would happened and what kind of grimm would appear.

"So where do you think Weiss's attacker is?" I asked.

"You mean her accessory attacker?" asked Yang, moving her head in every direction. "Beats me. It probably choked to death on whatever it was she had."

"That's a rather dark thing to say," said Blake.

Yang jerked her head in Blake's direction and smirked. "I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment, especially when it's coming from you."

I approached a guy walking down the street and asked about the grimm attack. The signs so far didn't look too good. Grimm often left behind a trail of destruction and so far we'd found none.

"Oh, that?" the man asked. "It was the strangest thing. The grimm came here, broke into an electronics store, and left with a single TV. The owner of the store isn't happy, but the rest of us sure are."

I wanted to ask him more questions. That sounded too simple for a grimm attack.

"So Grimm have resorted to stealing for survival," Blake said quietly. "It seems even monsters struggle to make ends meet."

The man shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he said. "All I know is that we're happy it didn't do anymore damage."

I tried really hard not to sulk. There was nothing more enjoyable to me than taking down Grimm.

"Well…goodbye," I said with feigned happiness.

"You too!" the man said with a smile.

"The fun's all over, huh?" asked Yang. She had that warm smile I'd come to recognize. Yang gave it to me every time she knew I was feeling let down.

"I guess," I said sadly.

We left the city at a much slower pace, simply eyeing the tranquil surroundings that we passed. I could only imagine Weiss going off on me about letting her things get destroyed. Coming home to an angry Weiss is something you never want to happen.

To our surprise, however, something was different about our place.

"You left the lights on again, Blake!" Yang snapped. Blake would sometimes do that even though she could see perfectly well with them off. She claimed that it helped her senses or something. I personally didn't believe any of that.

"I didn't," Blake snapped. "Weiss probably did it to mourn her possessions."

"You've got me there," said Yang. "That definitely sounds like her."

I looked for any sign of Weiss. You could usually tell she was up to something by signs of candles or soothing music playing. She had these weird moments when she'd make it look as if she'd entered a luxury hotel. There weren't any signs of it this time, for better or for worse.

"We should be careful going inside," I said.

"Why?" said Yang. "You're scared the ice queen will give you a second degree burn?"

"No, but—"

"Then stop whining and get inside," said Yang. She grabbed the front door and pulled it off its hinges.

"I just had that door replaced last week," sighed Blake.

"Glue exists for a reason," said Yang, "Now where are you, Weiss?"

She called out loudly but no response came. We could only hear the sound of something playing. It sounded like a show.

I ran into the lower level and found something bizarre. There was a TV playing in the lower level. We only had one TV and it sat on the upper level. This wasn't just any TV either. It was a very large and high quality TV. Sitting in a nice leather armchair was a somewhat large grimm that resembled a sloth. He lazily sat with a bowl of chips on his lap.

"Who are you?" I asked, pulling out Crescent Rose. "I'll slice your head off if you did anything to Weiss!"

The Grimm lazily looked at me. "Oh hey," it said. My jaw almost fell open. I'd never seen a Grimm talk and this one sounded so…normal. He sounded like an average person I'd come across on the street or something.

"You…can talk?" asked Blake.

"Sure," said the Grimm. "This your place? Sorry about that. I just needed a place to stay. I'm kind of homeless at the moment."

"Oh, that's okay," I said. "We just went to the city looking for you."

"Nice," said the Grimm. "You know I was just there looking for a TV."

"We know. The store owner was pretty upset."

"Yeah. I don't blame him, but sometimes you do desperate things. You know?"

I don't know what it was, but I found myself immediately liking this Grimm. He was so laid back and friendly that you almost _wanted_ to be his friend.

"One time I beat up a guy for refusing to give me information," Yang laughed. "It's amazing what desperation does to you."

"Are all of you forgetting something?" Blake asked. We all looked at her like she was crazy. After all, our conversation was going nicely.

"This…thing…destroyed Weiss's accessories and likely did something else to her." Blake took some very slow and scary steps towards the Grimm with Gambol Shroud pointed at it. "Tell us what happened to Weiss. Now."

The Grimm trembled nervously while continuing to hold onto the bowl of chips. "Oh…uh…the accessories," it said. "Yeah. I thought it was food and got mad when I found out it wasn't."

"How did you leave the dent behind?" I asked. "Because that was huge."

"Easy," said the Grimm, shoving a fist full of chips in its mouth. "I cannon balled it with my body."

"You're a lot stronger than you look," I said. It was true too. This grimm was big, but he was somewhat smaller than a Beowolf and kind of lanky.

"I get that a lot," said the Grimm. "I have this whole workout routine I've been trying out for a while. You wouldn't believe the gains I've been having lately."

Blake was clearly irritated by our friendly conversations and stormed off into the other room in the lower level. It was nothing more than a small storage room where she and Weiss kept some extra things that they couldn't put anyplace else. Blake stepped in there for a single second before running back to us.

"What did you do to Weiss?" she asked angrily, snatching the bowl and smashing it against the floor.

"Hey," said the Grimm. "I wasn't done with those."

"ANSWER ME!"

"I put Weiss away. She has a real mouth on her."

"And how do you know her name."

"It was kind of hard not to. She announced her full name and her family company when we first met."

That sounded like Weiss. I was curious about what had made Blake so angry and entered the other room. There were giant claw marks that dug deep into the walls and floor. Lying in the middle of the room was Weiss. She had a giant slash down the front half of her body.

"…Ruby…" she said weakly. "Where am I?"

"Weiss!" I shouted, lifting her head off the floor.

"Why is she injured?" I heard Blake ask defiantly.

"She was starting a fight with me so I roughed her up a little," said the Grimmm.

"You couldn't just leave and find someone else to bother?" asked Yang.

"No," said the Grimm. "Everybody else is too scared of me."

"No surprise there."

I knew then and there that I had to take down this Grimm, even if he did make a good conversationalist. I walked out of the room, activated Crescent Rose, and pointed it at his head.

"Aww, you're going to shoot me?" the Grimm asked. "But we were getting along so well."

"I'm sorry," I said. "But nobody hurts my friends."

I pulled the trigger and let off a shot that hit the Grimm right in the face. He took it head on and fell backwards from its power. I wasn't convinced he was gone just yet. There were no disintegrations or other signs of his defeat.

"Ughhh," he groaned. "Okay, okay. I'll leave. Geez. You huntsmen sure are an impatient bunch." The grimm picked a chip off the floor and ate it before leaving. None of us really knew how to respond. This was our first time actually having a Grimm cooperate with us. Normally we'd have a long and drawn out fight involving teamwork. Not this time. The grimm walked away without another word and left. It was all so surreal. We all just stood in the lower lever and listened to him walk upstairs and then exit our place.

"Sometimes I ask myself if life's mysteries are best left unsolved," said Blake.

"All I know is that I'm glad the slob left," said Yang. "Look at the mess he left behind."

There were indeed a lot of chips lying about and even some drool. It wasn't going to be any fun cleaning this up. However, there was one thing that needed our attention.

"Weiss," I said softly, holding her up. "We're sorry about leaving you here by yourself."

"That's oka," she said quietly, eyeing her dress. "Can you believe what he did? Ripping apart my nice clothes?"

I was about to say that it was weird for her to care more about that than her own health. Then I noticed that she had no sign of injury. No blood or cuts. Only her clothes had been torn. Her aura must have been enough to avoid any serious injury. I'd been so shocked by sight of her that I thought the cut dug into her body.

"Looks like you jumped the gun on this one, Blake," said Yang. "She's not even hurt."

"Oh, is that what you thought?" asked Weiss. "Of course not. I fainted from the shock of seeing my good clothes torn. This line isn't even sold outside of Atlas anymore and shipping isn't cheap."

I didn't even have a response to that. Weiss dramatically stood back up and looked at her dress one last time with tears in her eyes.

"Such is the price one pays for looking like they're worth something," she sighed. Weiss left the room to go sulk somewhere.

"Well," said Yang. "This was weird."

"Indeed it was," said Blake. "I didn't even understand the point of it."

"Neither did I," I said. "But hey. At least we got a new TV."

"Yeahhhhh," said Blake. "About that…"

Looked like another trip to the city was in order. This time I was brining money to buy some cookies. I felt like I needed a reward for making it through such a bizarre misadventure.


	4. Chapter 4

Snow

It was a lovely day. The sun was shining, Yang was snoring, and our entire neighborhood was covered in snow. There was something about snow that I loved. Each snowflake was small and dainty, but a lot of them were able to create a gorgeous landscape.

"Yang," I whispered harshly, shaking her so that she and I could admire the beautiful scenery together.

"…What?" Yang moaned. She shook her shoulder to brush me off.

"It's snowing, Yang!" I squealed, feeling myself shake with excitement.

Yang half-opened one of her eyes and looked out the window.

"Oh it is," she said groggily. "Now let me sleep."

"But _Yaaaaaang_."

Yang took my pillow and used it to sandwich her head between both hers and mine. "Just stop talking and let me sleep," she groaned.

I made a pouty face at Yang and left.

Yang was usually the first person I went to for anything fun. Everybody else either didn't know how to have fun or wasn't very interesting to be with by themselves. The latter kind of applied to Blake. She was cool when the four of us were together, but she could also be very awkward when it was just her and one other person. Still, Blake was the only other choice. I knew for sure that Weiss wouldn't want to be seen outside in her fancy clothes.

I went to the door that lead to our place's lower level. I always made sure to leave the lights off for the lower level because Blake always wanted them to be off for whatever reason. She said it was because it made her comfortable or something, much to Weiss's irritation.

"Blake," I whispered, squinting my eyes so that I could get a glimpse of where Blake even was.

I turned on the lights after getting no response. There was a loud groan and the sound of feverish movement.

"Blake!" I called out. "Are you awake?"

"I am now," Blake growled. "What is it, Ruby?"

I ran down the stairs with a big smile on my face. "It's snowing, Blake!" I said cheerfully. "Do you want to come outside with me?"

"Not really," said Blake gruffly.

I wish I'd heard Blake say that before I impulsively leapt in the air and jumped right on top of her. She yelled in pain or surprise, perhaps both. I couldn't really tell.

"Agh! What are you doing, Ruby?" Blake asked, her eyes bulging.

"Trying to wake you up," I said.

"You've accomplished that much already."

I felt kind of bad slipped off the bed, both my eyes watching Blake carefully. Her piercing yellow eyes had the look of a cat fending off another cat. That was never a good sign.

"I..uh…guess you don't want to go outside after all…do you?" I asked, lowering my gaze so I wouldn't have to look much longer into Blake's eyes.

"No," said Blake. "Now please leave me alone." She turned around in her bed and continued sleeping.

I felt so bad. Nobody wanted to go outside.

Before leaving, I looked around to see if Weiss was going to yell at me again. She was nowhere to be seen. There was a good chance she went shopping or something. I never really knew with her.

My hopes of waking up and having a snowball fight or something fun had been crushed to pieces. Nobody wanted to play and I would have to walk along the snow all by myself. Not that I didn't mind doing that. It was just a lot more fun with other people.

I put on my boots, placed my hood over my head, and opened the front door. The snow's brightness was so strong that my eyes almost shut entirely at first. I took a single step into the outdoors and felt my feet sink into the snow's crunchy surface. The white brightness combined with the cool breeze made me feel relaxed. I took in a deep breath and inhaled the cold, finding myself at ease for a moment.

My mind began to forget all its troubles and concerns as I walked further into the outdoors. There was something else outside with me that I hadn't noticed at first. Somebody else was outside and doing what I was doing. They were wearing a thick winter jacket with a hood that covered the entire back end of their head. I was a little nervous at first to ask. People think I'm super talkative around people, but the truth is that I can get very anxious around people I don't know that well. Slowly, I made my way towards the person.

One step, two steps. My anxiety grew as I came closer to the person.

"Good morning, Ruby," said a familiar voice. It was coming from the hooded person. "I thought you'd be out here earlier."

It was Weiss.

I didn't even know what to say. She was the last person I expected outside in the snow.

"You look surprised," said Weiss. She turned around and smiled at me. "You know you're not the only one who occasionally enjoys the outdoors."

I didn't say anything. My mind had gone numb.

Weiss giggled warmly and raised her head towards the sky. "There's something about snow that make me feel at peace," she said.

"Me too," I said happily. It was nice to bond with Weiss, especially when she wasn't responding to what I said with the usual snarky remark.

"Can I ask you something, Ruby?"

"What is it?"

Weiss looked at me and asked, "Do you ever think about your family much?"

I opened my mouth and said nothing. That question came out of nowhere and it was so unexpected for Weiss.

"Excuse me if that was sudden," said Weiss. "I just asked because…well…I do it a lot during times like this."

"When it snows?" I asked, finally finding my voice again.

"Yes," said Weiss. She was now looking at the snow around her feet. "It makes me think of a fantasy I had. One that I still cling onto, even though I don't always want to admit it."

"What's that?"

Weiss paused for a moment. "I've always wanted my own family."

"Don't you already have one?"

"Yes. I mean that I've always wanted a family that I've felt a strong connection with."

I could tell this was something Weiss had been thinking about for a long time. Nothing I could think of saying would have really added much. Part of me felt that it didn't matter anyway, because all Weiss seemed to want was someone to confide in.

"I've always been proud of the Schnee legacy and what we've accomplished," said Weiss. She raised her head and looked out into the white distance. "At the same time…I've never had the best relationship with my direct family. It's weird saying this, but you and the others probably make me feel more like family than anyone else in my life has."

I could only look into Weiss's eyes and smile. My brain had become so overwhelmed with the emotions I felt that speaking had become nearly impossible. Only one thing came to mind. I took a step towards Weiss and wrapped my arms around her.

"Of course we're family," I said, feeling the warmth of her body against my cheek. "And I hope that never changes."

"Neither do I," Weiss said quietly.

We probably looked a little silly holding each other in the snow for as long as we did. It didn't matter though. Nothing did at that time. At that time it felt like Weiss and I were the only people who existed in the world. It's a moment that I'll cherish forever.


	5. Chapter 5

Darkness

I was up nice and early once again, preparing for another session of Grimm hunting and cookie munching. You should have seen the sun that day. It looked especially bright that day, covering everything in sight with its rays. I always enjoyed hunting Grimm in sunlight because it brought a nice change of pace to my usual nighttime hunting. I was humming happily to myself the entire time while getting Crescent Rose prepared for some fun.

My time of joy was suddenly interrupted by the sound of our doorbell going off.

"I'll get it!" I shouted.

Sometimes we had random guests come over and hang out. I was expecting Nora that day. We'd made plans to hang out sometime this week. The only problem is that Nora doesn't follow a set schedule. She just shows up whenever she feels like it. I sped my way downstairs in hopes to see Nora.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

I paused for a moment. Nora would usually shout or say something on the other end. This was strange.

"Were any of you expecting anybody?" I asked loudly, just in case my teammates were nearby. Nothing. I didn't see Yang this morning and the others were nowhere to be seen. I gripped Crescent Rose and yanked open the door. I saw something that made my jaw drop. It was me.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-You're!" I muttered, finding it difficult to even speak. This other me looked different in a lot of ways. For starters, her left eye was completely white and had a deep scar running through it. I felt my own eye twitch in pain just by looking at it. This version of me was also much taller and had several scratch marks on her hands and face. Her hair went a little past her shoulders and the clothes she wore had been tattered in several places.

"Are you—"

"Yes," she said. This version of me had a deeper voice with very little emotion. It was almost robotic. "I am you from an alternate universe."

"Oooookay," I said, taking a deep breath. A talking grimm had entered my house the other day and now there was an alternate version of me. I wasn't sure just how much I could take in one week.

"You don't believe me. Do you?" asked the other me. I'll be referring to her as "Rube" from this point on.

I shook my head.

"Believe what you want," said Rube. "I should hope that my mere presence is proof enough of my existence."

"…Why are you even here?" I asked,

Rube scoffed at me. "You have such a peaceful existence here," she said. "My world has been tainted with corruption and chaos. I felt it was appropriate to seek refuge in a lighter environment after defeating Salem."

Listening to Rube talk made me feel bad for her. She'd defeated Salem and yet she seemed so sad. An idea came to my head at that very moment. There was one thing that she'd say yes to, or so I thought.

"Want some cookies?" I asked. "I just baked a batch the other day."

Rube glared at me. Her white eye twitched violently as she glared and it terrified me. "Cookies?" she asked angrily. "I tell you information of another dimension and you mention cookies? What exactly do you even do in this universe?"

"I…uh…hunt Grimm and hang out with my team," I said weakly. I was afraid my answer would make Rube angry.

"Does Yang still have her arm," Rube asked.

"Yeah. Why would she lose it?"

"Reckless behavior combined with lack of experience," said Rube. "It's been replaced with a robotic one."

"REALLY?" I squealed. "Does it have laser fingers or rocket launchers in the elbows? I've always wanted to try something like that out but that would mean I'd have to lose an arm and I could never—"

"Do you ever take the time to hear your own thoughts before you vomit them out?" asked Rube.

For some reason her comment hurt. I guess it left a greater impact since it technically came from me.

"I'm staying here with you," said Rube. "This cozy place should serve as a nice resting area."

"What?" I was completely caught off guard by that. Rube didn't even wait for my response. She just pulled out something from inside her jacket and held it out in front of me.

"Remember this?" she asked with a smirk. I watched as she revealed a very beat up Crescent Rose. I could see scratch marks and dents all over it. There was a strong urge to take it from her and fix it up.

"What did you do?" I asked, feeling myself tear up as I observed the deep scratches.

"I fought some enemies that were much stronger than myself," Rube smirked. "Recklessness does that to a person."

I looked over Rube's shoulder for a sign of suitcases or anything else. There were none.

"I'll be borrowing your things if you don't mind," said Rube. "My visit should only last about a week."

"A-A-A-A week?" I spat. "I didn't even get to say if you could stay for a day!"

"I know you'd let me," Rube smiled. I really didn't like the way her scarred eye looked at me when she did that. "One Ruby to another."

"But I just met you."

"And we've already began to blossom into good friends."

"F-Friends?"

Rube took her Crescent Rose and began to walk up my stairs. "Your room is upstairs, isn't it? Mind if I borrow the bed?"

Of course I didn't even have to say anything. She sped upstairs before I even had time to respond. One thing of interest was just how quickly she moved. I didn't even blink and she was already upstairs. Rube clearly had a far better grasp on her semblance than I did.

I finally got upstairs and found Rube lying across my bed. She looked like she'd been expecting me.

"I didn't say you could do that," I panted. The irritation in my voice was beginning to build.

"But you would have let me anyway," said Rube. She stretched her body out on my bed and sighed happily. I could see deep scars on her legs and arms. She looked like she'd been thrown in a shredder. I couldn't resist the urge any longer. I just had to ask.

"What happened to your eye…and the rest of you?"

Rube raised an eyebrow and me and smirked. "A rather tactless question to ask, wouldn't you say?" she said.

I shrugged my shoulders.

Rube sighed. "I lost this eye in a fight with Cinder. She tried crippling me by taking away my silver eyes. I sliced her head off in response. The clean sound of sharp metal slicing through flesh is…delightful."

I found myself increasingly disturbed by Rube. She had this dark chuckle that sounded more like a monster than a human. I suddenly began to regret letting her in after we locked eyes. There was something strange about Rube that I couldn't really describe. There was a darkness inside her that was enough to make anybody uneasy.

As if to make matters worse, Yang arrived at that very moment.

"Ruby!" Yang called from downstairs. "Where are you? I bought some carrots! Maybe you can teach me how to make carrot cake now!"

Rube lifted her head off of my bed and stared at the floor. "Yang…" she said distantly. "…The sound of her youthful voice is quite nostalgic."

I really didn't want Rube to meet Yang. She was so dark and creepy that I feared Yang would kick her out. A part of me wanted her to do just that, but another part was also interested in finding out more about Rube.

"I'm going to give her a welcome," said Rube. She stood up and placed her beat up Crescent Rose on my bed.

"Do you think you could say hi in a less…creepy way?" I asked, wincing a little.

"Creepy?" Rube cocked her head. "How exactly am I creepy?"

"Well…uh…"

"Scars and injuries aren't the signs of a creep," Rube said with her voice raised. I stepped back in fear as she took a couple menacing steps towards me. "What you see are physical signs of experience. Yang of all people will surely understand the value of combat experience. She did lost an entire limb due to her recklessness, after all."

"…What?"

We didn't have any time to explain further. The door opened and Yang stepped in with two large carrots in her hand.

"Ruby!" she said excitedly. "You wouldn't believe the deal I got off of these!"

Yang's beaming smile slowly vanished as she eyed both Rube and myself.

"Yang," I said, noticing her increasing discomfort. "I can explain—"

"Who is _that_?" asked Yang, dropping both carrots.

"I am Ruby Rose," said Rube. I wanted to hide in the corner and stay there.

"What? WHAT?" Yang's eyes were continuously growing larger. I was afraid they'd fall out of her sockets if she kept it up.

"Please excuse my sudden arrival," said Rube. "It wasn't easy reaching you here."

"Uh…do you mind if I take a breather outside?" asked Yang. "I'm feeling a little under the weather."

Rube nodded.

Yang turned around and walked out of our room. The door opened almost as quickly as it closed. Yang stared back at Rube with her eyes as wide as ever.

"You mean…." Yang slowly raised a shaking finger and pointed it at Rube, "…you're real? I thought I was hallucinating."

Rube said nothing.

Yang turned around and closed the door shut again. This was going to be an interesting day.


	6. Chapter 6

"Did you really have to say that?" Ruby asked with a frown.

Rube turned her head very slowly, as if she were attempting to intimidate Ruby with her hardened stare. Unfortunately for her, Ruby lacked the patience to wait for her head to turn all the way towards her.

"Aaaaaare you okay?" Ruby asked nervously.

Rube glared at Ruby through her blind eye. "Why must you interrupt me before I cast my dark gaze upon you?"

"What?"

"Nothing," Rube sighed.

"Why did you tell Yang that?" Ruby asked persistently. "Is she really going to lose an arm?"

Rube smirked at her younger self. "She will find herself in an unexpected battle," she said.

"You know I'm still here, right?" asked Yang, growing increasingly irritated by Rube.

Rube pretended not to hear Yang and talked over her with a louder voice. "I have the privilege to foresee that which will happen," Rube went on. Ruby watched her speak with a glazed look in her eyes. Any interest had long been abandoned.

"Did you not hear me?" Yang asked with her own voice raised. "Speak to me directly!"

"The future is bleak for those who choose to—"

"I. SAID. LISTEN TO ME!" Yang jumped forward to pounce on Rube. At the same time, Ruby also jumped off of her bed in an attempt to stop Yang. Both sisters knocked into each other as Rube effortlessly stepped out of the way.

"Ow…" Yang muttered. "What was that for, Ruby?"

"I know she's weird, but she's still me!" Ruby retorted.

"I am _not_ weird," Rube responded angrily. "I prefer to be called unique."

"I don't know," said Yang. "Unique is usually reserved for people who are likeably weird. You're just a creep from what I can see."

"Excuse me?"

Ruby could feel the tension permeating throughout the entire room. Something needed to be done before it suffocated everyone.

"Hey! I just thought up a really fun game that we could all play without any tension whatsoever!" Ruby said. She spoke so loudly and excitedly that it caused both Yang and Rube to stare at her uneasily.

"W-What is it?" asked Yang, a little flustered.

Ruby paused for a second. Truth be told, she really didn't have a new game in mind. She just thought that saying she did would stop Yang and Rube from arguing. Now she actually had to think of one and fast. She pursed her lips and searched for an idea.

"Her little game probably pales in comparison to the type of game I enjoy," Rube muttered.

"Oh yeah?" asked Yang, "and what would that be?"

The corners of Rube's mouth curved into a smile that looked more like a disturbing grin.

"My game is called reaper," she said in a hushed voice.

"Can you speak louder?" Yang asked with a hand cupped behind her ear. "I can't hear you when you whisper like that."

"No," said Rube.

"Aren't you curious about the game I had in mind?" asked Ruby.

"No."

Ruby pouted and turned away from Yang and Rube. "Fine" she said with a huff. "Then I guess I won't tell you what I had in mind."

"Good," Rube grunted.

Ruby wanted to keep her idea from them. She tried to keep her idea from them, but the excitement coursed through her body. Her mouth was in control of itself and before Ruby could do anything, she opened it and spoke.

"It's called food wars!" Ruby picked up an orange she'd been saving for a snack and threw it at Rube.

Rube caught the orange in her hand while barely moving the rest of her body.

"…So it's a food fight," said Rube, her one eye staring at the orange.

"Not just any food fight," Ruby smiled. "You can use your semblance in this one."

"This brings back memories," Yang grinned. "This time it won't be me flying through the ceiling."

"We'll see about that," said Rube. She disappeared in the blink of an eye, most likely to raid the fridge and pantry for food.

"Hey!" Yang shouted. "Don't think your speed will save you!" Without even thinking, Yang slammed both her fists into the floor. The impact of her punches broke through the floorboards and created a gaping hole that she and Ruby both fell through.

"Weiss isn't going to like this!" Ruby said while falling to the first floor.

Yang landed on both her feet and smirked. "Ice princess also wouldn't like to see me angry after a loss to edge queen over there."

"Yeah, but I—"

Ruby wouldn't get the chance to finish what she wanted to say. A pie went flying straight into her face, cutting off the rest of her sentence.

Yang turned to look at Ruby's pie covered face and snorted.

"I'm sorry, but you look ridiculous," she said through suppressed laughter.

Ruby raised both hands and wiped the pie off her face with them. Her eyes were now engaged and serious. The real fight had begun.

"Will justice be swift?" asked Rube sarcastically.

"Of course," Ruby smirked. "And it'll also be—"

"Delicious?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Challenge accepted," said Rube.

Yang jumped to the side and punched through one of the cupboards. The cupboards shattered into several pieces as watermelons fell out of their remains.

"Those were the watermelons that you said Blake ate!" said Ruby.

"I lied," said Yang. "I just wanted them for myself."

Yang picked up the watermelons and threw them at Rube. She dodged every one with a simple sidestep. Ruby couldn't help but feel jealous at how easily Rube made her speed semblance seem. She could move from place to place with minimal effort.

"Prepare yourself for the fighting style known as pork chop!" Rube roared without a hint of jest. She stuffed her fists into some pork lying on the counter and charged at Yang.

Rube then proceeded to barrage Yang with super-speed punches. Luckily for Yang, Rube's punches didn't do much besides feed her semblance.

Yang raised and eyebrow and smirked. "You'd think my sister would know better than to punch me like this," she taunted taunted.

Rube sniffed and dodged a punch from Yang. She then put her legs together and swept them across the floor. They rammed into Yang's ankles and sent her falling backwards.

"I've got you Yang!" Ruby yelled.

Rube looked up to see Ruby riding on a tray and coming closer to Rube's face. Rube jumped up and kicked Ruby off of her tray, sending her crashing into the wall.

"You all still have a lot to learn," said Rube condescendingly. She yawned loudly and even extended it just to taunt Ruby and Yang further.

"Damn you," Yang grunted as she pushed herself back up. "I'm not letting you off that easy!"

Yang punched her fists together and began to burn bright yellow. Her semblance had been activated.

"Let me show you my lamp chop style," said Yang, shoving her hands into some lamb that had been lying in the trashcan. She unleashed punch after punch, only for Rube to dodge them. Rube would sidestep every attack and send Yang flying with a single push. Every punch and throw created a bigger mess. It wasn't long before the kitchen area smelled of sawdust and meat.

"You're beginning to bore me," said Rube. She grabbed Yang by her hair and started to spin. The spin became increasingly fast, creating a little tornado. After spinning Yang around numerous times, Rube took one step forward and tossed Yang through the ceiling and into the sky.

"WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO MEEEEEE!" Yang shouted as she flew away.

Rube looked around at the mess she and the others had created. There were huge holes throughout the place that would take ages to repair. Scraps of food were lying around everywhere. It was a very unpleasant sight.

Rube waited. She knew that her little fight wasn't over yet. There was still one person left.

"I've had it," said Ruby. She'd been knocked into the wall while trying to help Yang.

Ruby took a starting position and shot forward, moving so quickly that she created a slipstream.

Rube scoffed at Ruby's attempt.

"The little rose has begun to bud," she snickered. "Let me show you what happens when a rose fully blossoms."

Rube took the same starting position as Ruby. However, she didn't create the slipstream. Not at first. Instead, she appeared to break into six petals that surrounded Ruby and her slipstream. The petals then merged as one and charged into Ruby so fast and hard that it broke through her stream and broke a large chunk of the wall off. Ruby flew out of the townhouse and landed on the lawn. She groaned and stared into the sky. There was someone falling from it.

"Oh no…" said Ruby.

It was Yang. She landed on top of Ruby with a loud thud. Ruby and Yang laid on the lawn in defeat as Rube chuckled to herself.

"It's been some time since I had this much fun," said Rube. "I must thank you for that."

"Shut up…" Yang groaned. "You're just saying that because you won."

"Oh not at all," said Rube. "I really did enjoy humiliating both of you."

"There it is."

"But you no longer need to worry. I'll be leaving this world for my own."

"WHAT?" Ruby asked, pushing Yang off of her so that she could get back up.

"But why? You just got here?"

"This moment between us has reminded me of the fun I've been missing in my life," said Rube. "That, and your world is a little too…uneventful for me. The darkness calls to my soul, and my soul answers with anticipation."

"Whatever," Yang coughed. "Just get out of here before I send you into the sun."

Rube smiled and nodded her head. "As you wish," she said.

Rube turned away and disappeared instantly.

Yang brushed the dirt off of her clothes while muttering to herself.

"…I think I've had enough random encounters for a while," said Ruby after a long silence. "Nothing's making sense anymore."

"No kidding," Yang grunted. "And have you seen the place? Weiss is going to kill us."

Ruby looked at their townhouse. It was in ruins. Well, half of it anyway. One half was fine while the other was an absolute mess. It looked like someone cut the place in half and then stomped on one of the cut halves.

"Well….I think I've had enough adventures to last me a lifetime," said Yang. "How does ice cream sound? I'll pay for it myself."

Ruby cocked her head at Yang. "Why do you want ice cream now?"

Yang stoked her chin while looking cautiously over her shoulder. "I'd rather not be here when Weiss comes. The sight of this place will probably give her a stroke."

"Good idea," said Ruby.

And the two sisters went off in pursuit of ice cream.

Ruby and Yang would have found something interesting if they had searched the townhouse later that day.

Lying on Ruby's bed was an old and beat up Crescent Rose. On top of it was a note. The note read: _I've stopped to give you this as a parting gift from myself. I thank you for allowing me to participate in the most fun I've had for a long time. I've left Crescent Rose with you. My experiences over the years have taught me that weapons are nothing more than the tools of war. The war has ended in my world and now the difficult challenge of fixing what remains has come into play, Violence and death are no longer needed, which is why I've decided to part ways with my weapon. Perhaps we'll meet again. Goodbye for now, Ruby._


	7. Chapter 8

Heart Keeper

It was a late night and Jaune Arc was walking down Vale. He walked silently with both hands in his pockets. Jaune usually had a bit of an optimistic disposition, but that night something seemed off about him. He wore a deep frown on his face and walked with his head down. Something had happened that he couldn't let go.

"Excuse me," said an elderly man.

Jaune looked from the corner of his eye. He could see a balding old man looking right at him. The man was known by everyone as "shop keeper."

Jaune forced himself to smile at the kindly old man. "What's up?" he said with feigned interest.

"I just saw you walking down the street with your head hung," the shopkeeper said with a frown. "Is something the matter?"

Jaune shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah," he said lamely. "This girl I like…she turned me down today…and I just…ugh."

The old man sighed. "Young folks such as you are so quick to love," he said. "I remember when I was also a young boy who sought love from the ladies." He looked up at the sky, recollecting the memories that lived on in his head.

"It's not fun," Jaune shrugged. "It's even worse that I can't get a date—"

"Well, how about me?" asked the shop keeper.

"W-W-W-W-WHAT?" Jaune shouted, almost falling over from the shock of what he'd just heard.

"Yes," the shopkeeper nodded. "I'll have you know that I was also a strapping young boy back in the day."

"I-I-I don't doubt that," Jaune stuttered, "But…you can't be serious."

"But I am," said the shopkeeper. "So what do you say? Take the offering of this grisly old man?"

Jaune looked the shopkeeper up and down. The man could barely even see through his beady eyes, and yet there was something about him. This was a charm that Jaune hadn't noticed before. It was the charm of age, and this man was oozing with it.

"You know what," said Jaune. "I'll do it. "

The two embraced, feeling each other's bodies in their arms.

"You sure have quite some muscle for a scrawny little thing," the shopkeeper chuckled.

"Same to you," said Jaune.

They then held hands and walked down the streets of Vale together, ignoring all the naysayers who stared at them.

Author's Note: Happy April 1st.


	8. Chapter 9

The day began like any other for team RWBY in their humble townhouse. The sun had risen, birds were singing, and the girls themselves were fast asleep. Their perfect day would come to an abrupt end when an unknown guest came knocking at their door.

"Who is that?" Ruby grumbled. She had barely slept the previous night and was hoping to sleep in for most of the day.

"I don't know," said Yang. "You answer it."

Ruby shifted in her bed. The thought of leaving behind the warmth of her bed for the outside really didn't sound all that appealing. Still, she wasn't exactly in the mood to irritate Yang.

Ruby quickly shoved her feet into a pair of slippers and went downstairs. She opened the front door to find someone very, very unexpected.

"Excuse me," said man with very white hair and an equally white mustache. "My name is Jacques Schnee."

Ruby slammed the door in his face before he could say anything else.

"WEISS!" Ruby shouted. "There's somebody outside for you!"

"I demand that you open this door immediately," said Jacques.

Ruby reluctantly did as she was told.

Jacque's creepily friendly smile was gone and replaced with a scowl.

"Of all the intolerable things you could have done," he growled, "You slam a door in my face! Do you have any idea who I am?"

Ruby looked him up and down. He wore a very nice suit and expensive looking shoes. At the very least, Jacques appeared to come from money.

"Weiss's grandfather?" Ruby asked.

Jacque's face burned red. "I AM HER FATHER! DOLT!"

"I can definitely see the relation."

"I'm here, Ruby," said Weiss. "What do you want?"

"This weird guy is claiming to be your dad."

Weiss gulped as soon as she saw her father and stepped back.

"Hello," said Weiss with a stiff lip. "What are you here for?"

"I'm here to invite you to my yearly garden party," said Jacques. He pulled out a sheet of paper from his breast pocket and handed it to Weiss, ignoring Ruby entirely. "You are expected to come. Remember that it is I who operates as your landlord. You wouldn't want anything to happen to this lovely place. Would you?"

Weiss took the paper and read it without saying a word.

"Are all your parties filled with people you threatened to show up?" asked Ruby.

Jacques shot her a dirty sideways glance. "They aren't threatened," he insisted. "They're merely advised. Young ladies such as yourself should learn to speak with tact before saying stupid things."

"We'd be happy to attend," said Weiss with a nod.

"What?" Ruby spat. "But this guy probably throws the most boring parties ever! He even dresses like someone who does the same thing every day!"

Jacques took a deep breath and turned away from Ruby and Weiss. "Remember," he said to both of them, "Be there or suffer the consequences."

He left with a loud slamming of the door.

"What a butt head," said Ruby.

"You shouldn't have said those things," said Weiss.

"And why not?"

"Do you know how much influence my father has? He could do a lot of things if we upset him."

Ruby smirked a little, but nodded anyway.

"Please promise me that you won't do anything weird, stupid, or dangerous at his party. Be courteous, be polite, and most importantly...be respectful. Can you do that?"

Ruby shrugged her shoulders.

"Please look into my eyes and promise me you can do this," said Weiss.

"Fine," said Ruby.

"Good," said Weiss with a smile. "I'll be taking you shopping later for your dress."

"What?"

Weiss gave Ruby a quick wink. "You honestly think I'd have you going to my father's party looking like a village murderer? Please. We're going to make you look like someone with some fashion sense."

Ruby groaned, and extended it just to make it clear how much she detested the idea. There were two things Ruby found especially boring: Shopping and dancing. Doing both was like living a nightmare.

"Why just me?" Ruby whined.

"Because the other two have some shred of fashion sense," said Weiss, "As hard as that is to believe."

Ruby later went back upstairs and woke up Yang, shoving the paper Jacques had dropped off earlier. Yang read it silently and then scratched her head.

"Weiss's Dad really isn't subtle," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Ruby.

"I mean. He outright states that refusing to come will result in unfortunate consequences. This guy sounds like a toddler in the body of a billionaire."

"Weiss says we have to go," said Ruby.

"Well she can count me out," said Yang, throwing the paper aside. "I don't do stiffy ego-stroking parties. Either you give me a good time or don't bother at all."

Ruby sighed. She knew that Weiss would convince yang to go. This sort of thing always happened. Weiss would propose something that nobody else wanted to do, everybody would complain, and then Weiss would somehow convince them to do it.

Regardless of what happened, Ruby knew that she really wasn't looking forward to shopping.


	9. Chapter 10

There was a soft knock at Ruby's door twenty minutes later.

"Should I open it?" Ruby asked Yang, looking at her for guidance.

Yang shrugged her shoulders. "It probably won't be that bad," she said. "Just pretend you're having fun and you'll leave faster. Trust me on that."

Ruby looked back at the door and sighed. She knew there was no escaping Weiss.

"Come in," said Ruby meekly.

The door opened and Weiss stepped inside with a beaming smile.

"Hello, Ruby," she said cheerfully. "You won't believe what I have in store for you."

"Hopefully it's a cancellation," Ruby muttered to herself.

Weiss stepped back and straightened her skirt, keeping her posture tall and straight as she did so.

"A very generous individual has agreed to assist me in making you presentable," said Weiss. "She's been voted 'most fashionable' two years at Beacon, placed top three in Ms. Vale competitions, and is recognized across the kingdom as a genius in the field of fashion.

Ruby nodded with every achievement Weiss mentioned. She pictured a girl much like Weiss, only a lot more uptight. This person probably spoke in very direct sentences and drank the same measurements of tea every day. Ruby pictured herself walking down a clothes store with Weiss chatting on one end and this person on the other. The thought of this situation becoming a reality made Ruby want to seek deep into the floor and vanish.

"I bring you…." Weiss said while taking a step to the side," Coco Adel!"

Coco looked nothing like Ruby imagined. For one thing, she was incredibly tall. Ruby usually used Yang as a benchmark for how tall a girl could be, and Coco was noticeably taller than Yang. Not only was Coco tall, but she also looked tough. She walked in with a straight face and a single hand on her hip. Her eyes were covered with aviator sunglasses.

"This the kid you wanted me to look at?" asked Coco, speaking to Weiss without even addressing Ruby.

Weiss nodded.

"Do you think you can help her out?"

Coco bent over and lowered her sunglasses to reveal dark brown eyes. She said nothing while eyeing Ruby up and down. Coco then leaned back and pulled her sunglasses back up.

"I'm going to guess that this girl is about fifteen, about five-foot two, somewhere around one hundred and fifteen pounds with a BMI of twenty-one. Wingspan looks normal enough. Bust and hips appear to be on the smaller side, however."

Coco spoke in a very straight-forward manner, cutting through all the fluffy talk people sometimes went through before getting to the point. Ruby felt kind of relieved by it, but it also made Coco a little more intimidating. She also felt a little insulted at being told that her measurements were "small."

"So are you going to dress me up or whatever you call it?" Ruby asked.

Coco pulled down her sunglasses again. "Honey, you're in need for more than a little dress up."

"What do you mean?" asked Ruby, looking at her clothes.

Coco raised an eyebrow. "Red hood? Black blouse? I hate to say this, but the gothic lolita phase died ten years ago, sweety."

Coco pulled out a scroll and said, "Velvet. Bring the reinforcements. This is a pretty serious emergency."

Ruby heard a girl on the other end say, "What?" Before Coco turned the scroll off.

"Come," said Coco.

Ruby did as she was told and walked with Coco and Weiss. She really had no idea what to think or feel, but Coco sounded like she had some clue of how to dress. Listening to her seemed like the only natural route to take.

Before walking off, Ruby looked towards Yang for any final comments.

"Have fun with your little shopping spree," Yang chuckled. She had a huge grin on her face that Ruby interpreted it as saying, "sucks to be you."

Ruby, Coco, and Weiss all walked outside the townhouse to find a large vehicle waiting for them. Standing outside the vehicle was a rabbit faunus panting heavily. She had several large suitcases in both her hands and by her side.

"Good work, Velvet," said Coco.

"I...came as fast as I could," Velvet panted. "You...have no idea...how heavy these were."

"Your work is appreciated," said Coco. She took one of the suitcases and opened it. There were piles of clothes inside, each of which had been nicely folded.

"Are these the clothes we'll be using?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," said Coco. "Weiss asked that I bring my wardrobe with me in order to save her money."

"Hey!" Weiss snapped. "You weren't supposed to mention that!"

Coco smirked at Weiss. "My apologies," she said with a hint of sarcasm. "Now let's get started."

"Do you want me to take any photos?" asked Velvet, now holding a camera in her hands.

Coco stroked her chin for a moment and said, "Sure. We could use this moment to take a before picture of the girl."

Ruby didn't even get time to open her mouth before Velvet snapped a picture of her.

"Don't worry about her," Velvet whispered in Ruby's ear. "She just takes her passion very seriously."

"I can tell," said Ruby.

Coco had everybody bring the suitcases back into the townhouse and to the lower level. Weiss had a giant mirror down there that was perfect for what they were going to do next.

"I have about twenty different outfits here right now," said Coco, showing Ruby the clothes that she had spread out on the floor. "Each of them range from casual to formal attire. Seeing as this is a Schnee party, I'm going to say that formal is what you're most likely looking for."

"I'm actually looking for a way out of this," Ruby muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Right. Now put this on." Coco threw a what appeared to be a dress at Ruby.

Ruby looked at the dress with a horrified look in her eyes. It was red, which she liked, but it also looked like the kind of outfit that took forever to put on. Even worse, heels were included.

"Do I really need to wear these?" Ruby asked, holding up the heels.

"Only if you don't want to continue looking like a dwarf," said Coco.

Ruby continued to stare at the heels as if they were explosives waiting to go off.

"They really aren't that bad after a while," said Weiss. "I've been wearing heels for years and look at me."

Ruby did acknowledge that Weiss appeared very graceful whenever she walked, but she also wondered if Weiss had deformed feet from being in the heels for so long.

"We'll talk about that later," said Coco. "Just put the dress on at least."

Ruby shrugged and took the dress. It looked like it was tight around the waist and had so many ruffles that Ruby wondered if she'd get stuck in them.

Getting into the dress itself wasn't very pleasant. She had to have a little help from Weiss and Coco. After a brief struggle, Ruby found herself inside the dress. The ruffles went all the way to her ankles and made it difficult to walk. Every step Ruby took was clumsy, especially since she had to wear the heels.

"So?" asked Coco. "How do you feel?"

"Like a prisoner," said Ruby.

"You look good," said Weiss, "But maybe we should get something less...restrictive?"

"Oh yes," said Velvet. "But do you mind if I take a photo anyway? It's for comparisons sake."

"Sure," ruby groaned.

As if the situation hadn't unbearable enough for Ruby, Blake walked in right as Velvet took the picture. She stared at everybody and the clothes spread on the floor.

"Should I even ask?" said Blake.

"Nice vest," said Coco.

Blake smiled a little. "Oh. Thanks," she said. "It's really comfortable for walks outside and-"

"Now back to you," Coco said to Ruby. "Don't like the dress?"

"Not really," said Ruby softly.

"Then we'll just move on to the next outfit. Art is an ongoing process that requires numerous attempts before reaching the final result."

"That's what I'm afraid of," said Ruby.

She looked pleadingly at Blake, who seemed more than content to watch from the corner.

A full hour and a half passed before a conclusion had finally been made.


End file.
